U.S. Coast Guard Academy to Host Academic Workshop

The Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy will host an academic workshop, Friday, Sept. 20, 2013, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy entitled “Resilient Ports, Marine Transportation Systems and Maritime Communities in an Era of Global Environmental Change.”

This one-day workshop will bring together a diverse group of scholars, practitioners and stakeholders from across the country to discuss how to achieve resilient ports and marine transportation systems in an era of extreme storms, rising seas and the melting Arctic ice sheet.

The workshop features two panels that highlight research currently being conducted by postdoctoral fellows at the center. A keynote speaker will then deliver an address that places both topics within the broader context of the need to achieve resiliency within the maritime domain.

The first panel will explore the potential effects of climate change, sea level rise and extreme storm events on ports and maritime communities; potential adaptations to these threats; and the attributes of a resilient port. This panel will be moderated by Dr. Tiffany Smythe, who has been conducting academic research on these issues under the auspices of the Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy in coordination with Coast Guard Sector New York.  

Panelists include:

•     Ms. Bethann Rooney, Manager of Port Security, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
•     Coast Guard Cmdr. Linda Sturgis, Senior Military Fellow, Center for a New American Security
•     Retired U.S. Army Colonel John R. Boulé II, PE, Vice President and Senior Manager for Priority Project Delivery, Northeast Region, Parsons Brinckerhoff
•     Dr. Radley Horton, Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University

The second panel will examine the ways in which increased Arctic shipping, facilitated by the melting Arctic ice sheet, may impact Alaska native livelihoods and subsistence practices. This panel will be moderated by Dr. George Stetson, who has been conducting research on this issue under the auspices of the Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy.

Panelists include:

•     Ms. Raychelle Daniel, Program Associate, Oceans North Arctic Program, Pew Charitable Trusts
•     Dr. Henry Huntington, Senior Officer, International Arctic Campaign, Pew Charitable Trusts
•     Mr. Austin Ahmasuk, subsistence hunter and Land Management Specialist, Kawerak, Inc.
•     Ms. Julie Raymond-Yakoubian, Social Science Research Director, Kawerak, Inc.
•     Ms. Jordan Diamond, Staff Attorney and Deputy Director, Ocean Program, Environmental Law Institute

The workshop begins Friday at 9 a.m. in the Coast Guard Academy’s Officer’s Club and will close with a walking tour of the Academy at 2:30 p.m.  At 4 p.m., participants may choose to observe a cadet regimental review on the Academy Parade Field.